Bryce Petty has sucked the suspense out of this whole deal, stripping armchair quarterbacks of two more weeks of speculation: He's making this football team.

These Jets are no dummies. They are blessed with the gift of sight. They fully realize that the second-year quarterback has earned a roster spot even if none of them will make the public declaration just yet. Petty is the best kind of "project." He's actually provided tangible evidence of improvement.

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It's the Summer of Bryce, where good things will happen so long as the young signal caller doesn't slip on party invitations before the end of the preseason.

Petty's spirited play Friday night in Washington was the latest evidence that he'll be on the roster this season, prompting the new most important question: Should he have a chance to replace Geno Smith as the Jets No. 2 quarterback?

Smith looked like the project in the second preseason game with physical and mental gaffes befitting a lost rookie. He stared down a receiver before a telegraphed pass was picked off by a safety. He had a brain freeze on an intentional grounding penalty. He inspired nobody.

This just in: The Jets don't owe Smith a damn thing. He used to be an erratic, below-average starter with tantalizing highs and maddening lows. Why should he be handed the backup gig now?

Sure, Smith has more experience than Petty, but what good is it if he's regressing in a new system? Petty played with energy and urgency. Smith played like he had just rolled out of bed.

"I didn't say there wasn't a competition," Todd Bowles said after his defense squandered a lead that Petty gave him in a 22-18 loss in Washington. "Right now, Geno is two and Bryce is three…. Anybody can push anybody for any job… Every position is open."

Bowles gave the ol' gotta-watch-the-film routine before drawing any conclusions about his quarterbacks, but the truth was plain to see: Petty out-played Smith and absolutely deserves an opportunity to compete for the No. 2 job over the final two weeks of the preseason. Petty, not Smith, should get the lion's share of backup reps in practice too.

"If you're gunning to be the backup, I think you're wrong," said Petty, who is 23 for 40 for 336 yards and two touchdowns this preseason. "I think we're all gunning to be the starter. I know it's different here. But in my mind, I want to push Ryan, because you're one snap away from playing."

Petty's confidence is palpable, which says plenty about him given his perceived uncertain future the moment that second-round pick Christian Hackenberg walked through the door. Petty has never whined or moped. Smith should take body language tips from him.

Petty is playing fast and relatively smart, showing flashes of his intriguing talent.

"He's more confident in his reads and therefore the ball's coming out a lot better," Fitzpatrick said. "I think he's done a great job all preseason even with the situation with everything up in the air. Who knows? Just grinding every day."

Petty is everything that Smith should be, but isn't. He is young and inexperienced, but exudes a leadership vibe that the man currently ahead of him on the depth chart lacks. He is still a project with miles to go before he sleeps. How good will be become? Nobody knows, but he's shown enough to warrant a roster spot and real chance to climb the ladder.

Geno Smith (Larry French/Getty Images)

He has a cannon for an arm and a fearless spirit (see: 19-yard and 42-yard touchdown passes against Washington, while getting pummeled in the pocket), which surprises nobody. His mind is slowly catching up with smarter protection calls and reads.

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"I'm getting better at it," Petty said of grasping the mental side of playing quarterback. "I spend a lot of time in the film room, but it's got to transition to the field. It does, but it's at a slower pace than I want to. But I definitely feel a lot more comfortable than I did last year."

He has had a singular focus for months now: Show the powers that be that he belongs here. "That's what I'm trying to do," Petty said. "That's the (goal when) I wake up every day: Try to make that as hard of a decision as possible."